VIEWPOINTS: Here's why Chris McNair must not be sent to prison

The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian writer of "Crime and Punishment"

Without addressing his innocence or guilt, which requires judging a man's heart and mind -- done with certainty only by God -- I am convinced that former Jefferson County Commissioner Chris McNair's imprisonment would be as harmful to our community as to him. My reasons, however, have nothing to do with his family's tragic past, but everything to do with our present.

Under the circumstances, there is no legitimate purpose of protecting the public served. And given the extremely high rates of recidivism and low rates of providing programs that prepare prisoners to successfully re-enter and contribute to society, any rehabilitative claims are pure myths. What prisons do most successfully is limited to providing jobs -- federal prison employees, in particular -- and dehumanizing and abusing the imprisoned, leading us to consider how we want the imprisoned to be punished. Specifically, how should McNair be punished?

Americans lead the world in the rate at which we imprison our citizens. But is it because our homes and communities produce the most evil and criminally inclined people in the world? Or is it because our courts are all too eager to placate the public cries for vengeance for perceived wrongs?And with the burgeoning prison population removed from our communities, where are the corresponding drops in crime rates? As we imprison an ever-increasing number and percentage of our population, what are the costs, not only immediate, budgeted costs as our nation struggles with the most challenging economic circumstances of a generation, but also the costs of more than a million Americans being idled, most for life, with few if any opportunities for employment after the prisoners are released? And almost all of them will, at some point, be released and return to our communities.

Americans seem to love to point fingers and condemn prison abuses beyond our borders, even as we engage in willful blindness toward our own prisons. There is an abundance of information establishing the failures and abuses permeating the prison system, but very little mainstream media coverage. So, what is prison like, and what should the McNair family expect?

To begin with, McNair's place of imprisonment will be determined by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and, based on the placement of other similarly situated prisoners, he is likely to be far removed from his family and friends. That is intentional, to deprive both his family and McNair of contact, and limit or eliminate all meaningful relationships. McNair will be told to report to prison with only his wedding band, his Bible and identification. After being strip-searched, he will be issued a prison uniform, likely consisting of a short-sleeved, thin, cotton shirt and pants, and heavy-duty combat boots made in China; what he wore on the day he entered prison will eventually be shipped to his wife in a box.

Because of McNair's age, he should be assigned a lower bunk in overcrowded prison space consisting of 88 square feet for three adult men and all their belongings, including bunks and lockers. (Even though this violates federal standards, no one enforces it.)

Speaking of bedding, that will consist of a 1- to 2-inch thin, pool-float type surface that had been labeled for temporary disaster use and restricted to body weight of no more than 140 pounds.

All of McNair's prescription medications will be taken and withheld from him for some period of time, with the prison eventually giving him, without the benefit of any medical examination, only what it decides to give him, and only the dosage it decides. Suffering the dangerous and life-threatening effects of immediate cessation, he is likely to be denied all medication for days, and some permanently.

If he or his family objects, he will be subjected to additional and escalating abuses. He will be exposed to contagious and incurable diseases, with soap and paper towels being withheld for days or weeks at a time. If he becomes too ill to stand and walk or navigate stairs, his fellow prisoners will inform the prison employees of his need for assistance, to which the responsible prison employee will respond, "Tell him to come to my office, and do not help him. If he can't walk, tell him to crawl."

When the power goes out at the prison, McNair will be cold. Sometimes, there will be no or reduced power for days at a time, and no hot water with which to wash or with which food-service items may be washed. His diet will consist of long-expired, often donated, food products, as well as those labeled "CONTAMINATED -- NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION," raw and undercooked chicken and fish, and breakfast cereal enhanced with rat droppings, all served on dirty food receptacles in an eating area openly peppered with rat traps.

What will be most harmful to the McNair family, however, will be the intentional destruction of his humanity, with every good and positive quality targeted for extinguishment by prison employees, with characteristics that are treasured in our communities, such as goodness, kindness and concern for his fellow man, resulting in harsh and abusive punishment in prison.

Unless and until the prison system is drastically reformed and has convincingly established its ability to develop better -- as opposed to more dysfunctional -- men and women, and until those with whom it is entrusted and the communities to which they will return are no longer harmed by the prison system, we will all continue to be its victims. As long as American citizens tolerate and support this corrupt and broken system, we are all guilty of man's inhumanity to man.

Judy White lives in Leeds and works as a law firm administrator in Birmingham. Her husband, former Jefferson County Commissioner Gary White, is in federal prison at Edgefield, S.C. Email: garyandjudy@charter.net